On to the North Cascades

Mt. Shuksan in the Stephen Mather Wilderness
North Cascades National Park    

While staying at Deception Pass we explored Whidbey Island and visited the charming sea town of Anacortes on the north end of the island.  We can see why many people have moved to this San Juan Island.  It is still very close to Seattle, yet the island pace of life is much slower and the natural beauty of the coastal forests and the rugged sea shore is breathtaking.  There is a naval air station on the island so you do hear some jets flying about.

We moved on to stay a couple of nights in Bothell, a suburb of Seattle, at a very nice commercial campground with ponds, waterfowl and nature trails that made it feel more like a state park.  One night we had dinner with Camille and Jim, friends we knew in San Antonio that had moved to Kirkland, another Seattle suburb.  There was a street fair and summer celebration that night in Kirkland so we had a great time eating and visiting and then walking along the lakeshore enjoying the festival.  It was so nice to see our friends and catch up on each other’s lives.

 

Looking towards Rainy Pass from the Pacific Crest Trail
Smoke from the Carleton Complex Fire makes a hazy view

In early July we made plans to camp with Camille and Jim on their land near Brewster, Washington.  However, while we were still in Oregon much of the forest around Brewster burned in the Carleton Complex Fire.  We had to cancel the camping trip and make new plans to see them in Kirkland.  Camille and Jim’s land did burn but they felt very fortunate that they had not built a house there yet.  The Carleton Complex Fire is the largest wildfire in Washington history and has burned 256,108 acres to date. It is mostly contained now. 
 



Lake Ann from the Rainy Pass Trail just outside the park boundary 

 

Next we were off to the North Cascades National Park and Ross Lake National Recreation Area to meet some new friends.  We were in this part of Washington two years ago and met a couple, Bonnie and Dave, with their Australian Sheppard on a trail we were all hiking.  Maya and Shannon (their dog) got to be trail buddies and we all had such a nice time together that we traded e-mails and stayed in touch. We were so saddened to hear when their dog, Shannon, passed away last year (she was almost 15).

 

Lake Diablo just east of our campground
The blue-green water color is caused by the glacial 'silt' in the water



With a little planning it worked out for us to meet Bonnie and Dave in North Cascades National Park at Colonial Creek Campground on the shores of gorgeous Lake Diablo.  It is not often in our travels that we have been able to reconnect with people we have met.  We had such a fun time hanging out with them.  Bonnie and Dave have two new Australian Sheppard puppies that are now 10 months old.  What a bundle of energy those two were!  We never went through the ‘puppy stage’ with Maya since we adopted her when she was six.  Neither David nor I think we have what it takes to raise puppies anymore, but Bonnie and Dave have been having a blast with their two.

Dave and Bonnie with Eli and Emma

Cindy, Maya and David

 

 While we were in the North Cascades National Park there was one perfect day, two days with a heavy smoke haze in the air (from the Carleton Complex fire, well over 70 miles away) and two rainy days.  The rain actually cleared the smoke from the air and helped the fire-fighters so we were grateful for it. 

One of the most amazing things about this area of the Cascade Mountains is the dramatic difference in elevation between the valley floors and the mountain tops – in some places over 5,000 feet!  And did I mention glaciers?  North Cascades National Park has more glaciers than any other national park outside of Alaska.  The rain and smoke obscured some of the magnificent views that we saw the first time we were here two years ago, but we didn’t let that deter us from enjoying the park and taking some great hikes.

Trees in fog
Many of our hikes were in clouds, fog or smoke haze

 

Over 94% of this national park is designated as the Stephen Mather Wilderness under the 1964 Wilderness Act.  Mather was the first director of the National Park Service.  As I have mentioned in previous blog postings, this being the 50^th year celebration of the Wilderness Act, we are trying to hike in as many wilderness areas as we can.

Upper Watson Lake in the Noisy Diobsud Wilderness

 

Washington has so many wilderness areas.  There were 10 within driving distance of our campground!  But because of the fire and our time constraints and also because wilderness areas by definition are not that easily accessible, we were only able to hike in three –  the Stephen Mather, Glacier Peak and Noisy Diobsud Wilderness areas.

Pink mountain heather filled the meadows on the Watson Lakes Trail

 

I guess our favorite wilderness hike was the Watson Lakes trail in the Noisy Diobsud Wilderness.  It was quite a drive to get there taking us almost 2 hours, about half of it on an unpaved forest road winding up the side of a mountain. As we neared the trailhead the clouds hung low threatening rain but we were determined to go hiking after all the trouble we went to getting there.  It was one of those times that could have been a disaster but turned out to be magical instead.  We walked in light rains and mists with fog rolling through meadows filled with blooming pink mountain heather.  The lakes shimmered in and out of view through the heavy fog and in the distance we glimpsed glacier-packed mountains through barely parting clouds.

 

Mt. Baker and glaciers barely showing through clouds

We also hiked our last section of the Pacific Crest Trail for this year.  It was a very beautiful hike near Cutthroat Pass with breathtaking views of the Cascade Mountains (although through a smoky haze).  This hike brought our total number of hikes on the PCT to thirteen.  We had hoped to take a few more hikes on this 2,663 mile trail but as we have learned in our journeys – you just can’t do everything.  (Darn it!)
 

Porcupine Creek on the Pacific Crest Trail

 

 

David's Stats:
Days Hiked  4  
Total Miles Hiked   21.51  
Ave. Miles per Day      5.38
Total Elevation Gain     4,556
Ave. Elevation Gain per day   1,139